Federal Minister Blümel: Video sharing platforms to be held to account

AVMS directive adopted at EU level – paving the way for the creation of a level playing field for all market participants

“Thanks to the revised EU audiovisual media services directive, video‑on‑demand providers and video‑sharing platforms will, in future, also be held responsible and to account”,

Federal Minister Gernot Blümel expressed his satisfaction at the directive that was adopted under Austrian chairmanship by the Council of the European Union on Tuesday 6 November 2018.

“This decision will pave the way for the creation of a level playing field for European media producers. The directive brings us closer to a competition law framework that will improve the asymmetric competitive environment”,

Blümel noted.

The media minister continued by saying:

“For the first time, video‑sharing platforms are subject to rules that make sure that viewers, and in particular minors, are better protected from violent or harmful content or hate speech”,

He underlined that the new directive is also intended to increase cultural diversity and promote European content by stipulating that all audiovisual media services must achieve a minimum quota of 30% of European content.

“Since the previous version of the AVMS directive was adopted in 2010, the market for audiovisual media services has evolved considerably in a short period of time. It is thus right and important that we take these developments into account”,

said Federal Minister Blümel, who is responsible for the media. He noted that Austria would work towards the swift implementation of the AVMS directive as well as other European legislative acts that are still under negotiation, adding that, in particular, substantial efforts are currently underway to finalise the copyright directive on a European level.